Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.
The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist
Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us
or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look
us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this
message from God's word will be a blessing to you.
We're. So glad to have you this morning
for our Sunday school hour. Just a little bit of a
programming note for you. This will be our final session
looking at the world religions and cults for this year.
Next week, Lord willing, we'll be looking at the virgin birth
of Jesus Christ. I like going over that issue
every year or two and why the virgin birth is so important.
I know it'll be after Christmas, but that's OK.
We don't just have to talk about it before Christmas.
But I do think it's good for us to be able to review and
understand why Mary is so important, but yet that she is
also not held to the same regard that the Catholic Church does,
and to be able to look at those differences.
Next Sunday morning, the following Sunday morning, that
will be January 4th, and we'll be having Charles Parker Abbott
junior, who will be giving the message, preaching, teaching,
whatever he will be doing. He'll be speaking the word of
God to us. He'll be in town in a couple
weeks and looking forward to having Chucky with us.
And he'll be giving the Sunday school hour.
After that, we will be returning to the series.
But in the meantime. Looking forward to getting back
into it with you today. And we're asking ourselves this
question, as you could see on our first slide.
How did the Jews receive eternal life?
And I think. Is an important question for us
to look at this morning, to look at it not just from the
perspective of the Jews, but also to look at it from our own
perspective as well. We maybe put it this way from
the perspective of Christianity in general, maybe to dispel some
of the thoughts that is spoken of so primarily through general
Christianity. And by that I mean just the
broad general thought of Christianity, not even
necessarily who we are as Bible believing independent Baptists,
but then also of the Jews themselves and how they look it
themselves and comparing what they say about themselves to the
Bible. Now before we do that, we want
to remind ourselves of the 13 beliefs of which they hold to.
We looked at these last week and we saw first of all, God alone
exists and his creator. God is 1 and unique.
God is incorporeal and incomparable.
God is eternal. Both first and last we're to
pray to God alone and to no other.
The words of the prophets are true.
Moses was the chief prophet and Moses's prophecies are true.
The Torah, The first five books of the the Bible, or a Torah,
the Talmud were given to Moses and divinely preserved.
There will be no other Torah since it cannot be changed.
God knows all things, including the thoughts and deeds of men.
God will reward the righteous and punish the wicked.
The Messiah will come and 13 and finally the dead will be
resurrected. Now you'll hear these mentioned
in the video very close to the end of the lesson this morning.
So I want to review these with you because these are commonly
held by all of the Jewish. Groups and sects that there are
out there. Remember, we saw that there were
several of them. That are out there.
Perhaps the only, I would say The only exception that would be
secular Jews, those who are Jewish in ethnicity and hold to
that and maybe even observe the feast just out of, you know,
solidarity with their. Own ethnicity but yet really do
not hold to the beliefs of Judaism at large.
But in general you will find that these 13 beliefs are held
in common and I will say there's a lot as we mentioned last week
that we do have in common with those 13 beliefs is why we look
at the judeo-christian heritage that we have here in the United
States and sometimes put those together.
But the differences are real and the differences are enough that
well someone believing in that would not be able to spend an
eternity in heaven. Why?
Because they have denied who Jesus Christ is.
The Messiah will not come. The Messiah has already come.
And we saw that God will reward the righteous and punish the
wicked. And technically we do agree with
that. However, the part that's not
mentioned there is that there is none righteous.
No, not one. And we'll see again in the video
at the end the stark differences of which we believe and which
the Jews would hold to in all of those things.
But as the. Jewish practitioners themselves,
we ask ourselves this question today.
What is eternal life to the Jews?
How do they receive eternal life?
There's three things I want us to look at today.
I want you to get your fingers ready this morning.
Do this real quick. And the reason I want you to do
that, you know why we're. Going to be working through our
Bibles. All right, so we're going to be
doing that this morning and getting ourselves ready for
that. So let's look at this.
First of all, number one, are they saved because they're God's
chosen people? Number one, are they saved
because they're God's chosen people?
Now, this is more of a mistake in thinking of Christians more
than Jews themselves. The automatic assumption that
Jews must be saved because they are the chosen people of God.
And as I mentioned last week, and I want to mention again and
make it abundantly clear to all who are in this room and those
who are watching online, those who are listening later, I want
this to be abundantly clear. The Jews were, the Jews are and
the Jews will continue to be God's chosen people.
God has worked through the Jews. God is continuing to work from
the Jews, although they are far from God today, and He will
continue to work through the Jews in the in the future as
they figure very large in the prophecy and into the Book of
Revelation. As we saw last week that it says
in Romans chapter #11 that there will come a time when the Jews
as large in the end of the tribulation period will come to
trust Jesus Christ as their Savior, realizing He was the
Messiah that they had rejected for so long.
Now remember that when we say that they are God's chosen
people, that does not mean they are better than everyone else.
We made this clear last week. They are chosen chosen because
they have been chosen for a particular task, just as I could
take one of my children and choose them for a particular
task. I just saw this morning we had
or experience this morning in our home getting ready.
AJ, you need to take care of the dishes.
He loves loading the dishwasher note and loading the dishwasher.
Let me tell you, he loves that. If you don't get the sarcasm
from what I'm saying right now, then I am not laying it on
thickly enough. He loves I say it's time to
unload and he already says not load, right?
Because he knows that after he unloads he's got to load it back
up. With the stuff in the sink, he's
already bargaining with me before we start.
I've chosen him to do that. Peyton, there were a few dishes
that were left that we can't put in the dishwasher.
And so I asked her, I said when you when AJ is done, will you
wash the things that can't go in the dishwasher and put him in
the drying rack? Now I chose AJ to do something.
I chose Peyton to do something. That does not mean that I love
more, one more or one less. It just means, well, I chose
them to do what they have been prepared to do.
And that's the same with the Jews, that they have been chosen
for a particular task. Now we ask ourselves this
because a lot of what we're looking at this morning is not
just me saying these things, but why does the Bible teach these
things to be true? How do we know that they are
God's chosen people? Well, we learned that in
Deuteronomy Chapter 7. So why don't you go ahead and
turn to Deuteronomy chapter #7 this morning to be the first
place that we look at Deuteronomy Chapter 7 verse #6
again. They are chosen not because they
are loved more than anyone else. They are more beloved.
By God, but rather because they have a particular task now, they
are loved by God. There is no doubt of that.
But then again, we all are loved of God.
That's why Jesus Christ died on the cross for.
God So what love the world and we know that to be true a theme
throughout Scripture that it was his love that sent Jesus Christ
to be born as a baby. It was his love that sent Jesus
Christ to the cross. It was his love that caused his
precious blood to flow down from that cross and so that we could
be washed in his blood. Remember, we saw that we were
washed. We are justified.
We are sanctified. We saw that on Wednesday night.
That's. All through the process of which
God has made. But we see in Deuteronomy
Chapter 7 Let's. Begin with verse #6 where God is
saying this, For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God.
The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto
himself, above all people that are on the face of the earth.
Now take a brief time out. I don't want to go too far off
the path here for just a second, but I do want to remind you that
it does say in Titus chapter 2 verse 14.
And I know I've said this before, that we are in the New
Testament as believers called to be peculiar people, zealous of
good works. And again, that whole peculiar
thing doesn't mean that you walk around.
Hey, I'm peculiar. All right, it doesn't have to be
like that. And some of us, I know we are
pretty peculiar. I know I can only look at
myself, but it's not just talking about acting strange or
acting funny. It means that we have been
chosen to be different in this world.
We've been chosen to be salt and light.
And so in this New Testament era, we are also chosen people,
you know, not these chosen people.
We have not replaced the Jews. There's some really bad
theology, replacement theology that is out there that would say
that the church has replaced the Jews.
Listen, that is so far from what the Word of God teaches.
Stay away from that type of theology.
It leads to anti-Semitism. It leads to bad decisions about
the end times and bad theology about the end times.
Stay away from that. But we have also been chosen to
be lights for Jesus Christ in this New Testament period of
which we live in. Now getting back to where we
were. Verse #7 The Lord did not set
his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in
number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people,
but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the
oath which He had sworn unto your Father's.
Had the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeem
you out of the House of bond them for the hand of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt. Know therefore, that the Lord
thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love him, and keepeth his commandments to
1000 generations. By the way, with 1000
generations cover the Jews until today.
I would certainly say so. And beyond verse 10 And repayeth
them that hate them to their face, and destroy them.
He will not be slack to him that hateth him.
He will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep his
commandments, the statutes, the judgments which I command thee
this day to do them. God says I have chosen you.
I have selected you for a very particular task, not because you
were bigger or better than anyone else, because I have laid
my affection upon you to do this, and I'm preparing you to
do this. But he says this.
Obey my commandments, obey what I have told you to do.
And we know that they have been unfaithful by the way.
By and large, they remain unfaithful today.
Remember we saw last week they have stiff armed Jesus Christ
even today. By and large, not every Jew,
we're not talking about them all, every single one of them.
We can't say every single person's that way.
There are Messianic Jews, those who believe in Jesus today.
But by and large the Jews have pushed out and pushed away Jesus
Christ as a heretic, as one who is not from Jehovah.
But we do see this, that although they are not faithful,
God is faithful. It says that right there.
That's a good time for that, Ralph.
All right. Verse #9 Even though they have
not kept their end of the bargain, that God still keeps
His bargain to them, if you want to put it that way.
It says He keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him
and keep His commandments to 1000 generations.
And you say, well, they don't love Him today.
And certainly that is true. But we find that still He keeps
His covenant, and He reminds us throughout the Old Testament
that even if you're not faithful, I'll be faithful.
And His love will still be there to those who turn to Him from
the Jews at any given time that He will be there and He's still
going to. When they turn to Him, they will
restore the Kingdom and preserve all that which He said He will
do. Now again, we saw last week,
this does not mean just because they're God's chosen people that
all the Jews are saved. There is a difference when it
comes to salvation. We're not talking about the
redemption of their people by large.
We are talking about the redemption of each individual
soul. Now what did John the Baptist
say about this? What did John the Baptist say
about the Jews being saved just because they're God's chosen
people? Well, you put it this way in
Luke chapter 3, verses 7 through 9.
Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized
of him, O generation of Vipers, who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits
worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves.
Listen, he says, don't say this. We have Abraham, it's our
father. For I say unto you, that God is
able of these stones to raise up the children unto Abraham.
And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.
Every tree, therefore, which bringeth not forth good fruit is
hewn down and cast in the fire. John the Baptist says, don't
think that you are redeemed simply because you are a Jew.
Don't think you're redeemed simply because you are the sons
and daughters of Abraham. He says the preaching that is
being laid out to you now is laying the axe to the root of
the tree. We're getting to the heart of
the matter. You need to be saved and the way
that you are living your life lends you to be more like a
generation of Vipers than a generation who has been redeemed
by the Messiah. Jesus put it this way in Matthew
15 verse 24. But he answered and said, I am
not sent unto the lost sheep. Of the let.
Me try that again, I'm sorry, but he answered and said I am
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel.
And he's speaking about this in his earthly ministry.
Who was he primarily trying to reach the Jews.
It's not that he, he had no care for the Gentiles.
We see that he healed A Syrophoenician woman.
She certainly would have been a Gentile.
We see as care for the people of Samaria.
They were half Jews. But we also understand that he,
his ministry was focused on the lost House of Israel.
Well, why were they lost? Well, because they did not
accept him by and large as their savior.
He knew they needed to be redeemed, even though they were
God's chosen people. Well, what's the ramifications
of that? Go to Romans chapter. 10 Romans
chapter 10. You'll recognize some of these
verses. Romans 10 verse #9 I'd encourage
you write some of these verses down and look at them later.
I know that we go over them very quickly, but if you can write
them down and look at them and study these out for yourself.
Romans 10 verse 9 says this, Well you probably are familiar
with this, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart, that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth in the righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the Scripture sayeth, Whoever believeth, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Listen, for there is no difference between the Jew and
the Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him.
And verse 13 we're also familiar with, for whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
So what is made abundantly clear here?
This is the plan of salvation for the Jew and the Gentile.
This is the way of salvation, to call upon the name of the Lord,
to trust in the Lord Jesus. This is where salvation lies.
It is not due to a national identity of which the Jews carry
because they have been God's chosen people from the time of
Abraham, confirmed in the Law of Moses, and then carried on from
that time all the way until the very end times and beyond.
We find that this is what God's plan is.
But yet they still need to be saved the Bible way.
And we'll actually look into more of that here in just a
moment. So number one, are they saved
because they're God's chosen people?
And the answer to that is no, they are not simply saved
because they are God's chosen people.
But we ask ourselves number 2, are they saved because they
believe in Jehovah? Are they saved because they
believe in Jehovah? Now, this is a difficult
question for some because listen, for us to study Judaism
as we have is different from other world religions.
It's easy to look at the Muslims and say, listen, they believe in
Allah and we believe in Jehovah God.
And so we are not alike. They are a false religion.
That's fairly simple for us to say.
We can look at Buddhism, can't we?
And we can consider that Buddha is in the grave, he is dead, has
decayed and has not resurrected. We say, listen, we're different
from the Buddhists, aren't we? That they worship Buddha and
that we worship Jehovah God. And so it's easy for us to say
there is a difference. However, for those who practice
Judaism, listen, they will tell you that they believe in Jehovah
and well, we believe in Jehovah too.
And so there can cause some confusion, can't it, for us to
be able to consider these things because it would seem like you
have the great similarity of having the same God.
But listen, the main issue with this is that Judaism doesn't
truly believe in Jehovah because they don't believe in Jesus.
I'm going to run that by you one more time.
Although they give lip service to the fact that they believe in
Jehovah, they do not believe in Jehovah because they do not
believe in Jesus. Jehovah is the triune Godfather,
Son, and Holy Ghost. The way we can really separate
this and understand this would be to maybe go back in our minds
to even look at the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons.
If I was to go up to a Jehovah Witness witness and say, do you
believe in Jesus? What would they say?
Yes. If I was to go to a Mormon and
ask them, do you believe in Jesus?
What will they say? Yes, but we have to ask the
Jehovah Witness, well, what do you believe of Jesus?
And then we find, well, they don't believe that it's Jesus.
We asked the Mormon, what do you believe of Jesus?
And we find they don't really believe in Jesus.
And so we would ask the Jew. We would ask them the practicing
Jew, we would ask them, what do you believe of Jehovah?
And we will find that their answer will be lack, because
they do not believe that Jehovah is a triune Godfather, Son, and
Holy Ghost. faith in God must include faith in his Son,
because God has made Christ the exclusive mediator of salvation.
There is no other name by which men can be saved.
Acts 412 And listen, you can't say that you have regard for the
Father and then have hatred for the Son and believe that you're
saved. That's just not Bible.
We understand this, practically speaking, in our own lives.
I can't imagine someone coming to me and say, you know what?
I really like you, but I hate your wife and I hate your kids
and me saying something like this.
Hey, well, as long as you like me, it's OK.
I'll tell you this. You got a problem with my wife.
You got a problem with me 22 years yesterday.
You know what I'm saying? You got a problem with Diane,
You got a problem with me, you say is that you're throwing down
the gauntlet? No, I actually don't really
remember having a conversation with anybody like that because
most people like her better than me, all things considered.
But. I will say that.
You know, if, if you if you don't regard her, well, then you
don't have much regard for me because we're one flesh.
And if someone says, you know, I really like you and I like your
wife, but your kids. Now listen, I'm not saying that
our kids are perfect because nobody's kids are perfect.
There have been times people have come and said something
about our children. I've had to say, well, not only
you're right about that, but there's a lot more that you
don't know that if you didn't know, you'd be right about that
too. I'm not saying that.
What I'm just saying is you can't have withheld affection
for my children but yet have affection for me and truly say
that you love me because you don't, because we kind of come.
Can we put it this way as a package deal?
Could I put it this way, just put it down to the bottom shelf
so that we can all grab it this morning?
When it comes to Jehovah, Jehovah and Jesus are a package
deal. And you can't say that you
believe in Jehovah without believing in who Jesus Christ
is. You say, well, that I mean, who
are you to say that, pastor? I mean, who are you to lay down
the gauntlet in that way? And the answer is I wasn't the
one who laid that down. Here's who did Jesus, Jesus
himself was the one who said, you don't believe in me, then
you don't rightly believe in the Father.
And the book of John records this back and forth so many
times. We're going to read just a
couple of those places. So first go to John chapter 5.
All right, John chapter 5 verse #19 John chapter 5 verse #19
we'll start there. And the Bible says, this, This
is Jesus, you'll see, says, Then answered Jesus, and said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of
himself but what he seeth the Father do.
For what things so ever He do it, these also do it the Son
likewise. For the Father loveth the Son,
and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth, and He will show
him greater works than these that he may marvel.
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, Even
so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
For the Father judgeth no man, and but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even
as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father which hath sent Him.
That seems pretty clear to me. Right?
Right there does it. It says that we are to honor the
Son, or men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father.
Listen, how is the Father honored?
It's only by worship. It's only by worshiping him as
God. So what is Jesus saying?
Basically saying this, you honor the Father is God, but you honor
the Son is God as well. Now the Jews didn't like that.
They didn't appreciate this type of talk.
Drop down to verse #39 it says this.
He tells those Jews who think that they know the Scriptures so
they know more about Jehovah than Jesus.
And he says this search the scriptures for in them you think
you have eternal life and they are they which testify me.
He says, listen, if you're not sure about what I'm saying, go
back and read your own scriptures.
Could I maybe put it to you this way this morning?
Go back and read the Torah. Go back because if you read the
Torah, it speaks of me. What do we say to the Jews
today? We say go back and look at your
Torah. No, no, don't worry about the
Talmud. That's not the Scriptures.
Go back to the Torah. What does the Torah say?
What does the Old Testament say? What are the first five books
say? They tell you who Jesus Christ
is, and yet they deny it. He continues and said, and he
will not come to me, that they might have life.
I receive not honor from them, but I know you, that you have
not the love of God in you. I am come in in my Father's
name, and ye receive me not. If another shall come in His own
name, Him ye will receive. How can ye believe which
receive? Honor one of another, and seek
not the honor that cometh from God.
Only do not think that I will accuse you to the Father.
There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom he trusts.
For if he believed in Moses, ye would have believed me, for he
wrote of me. But if ye believe not his
writings, how shall ye believe my words?
And so Jesus consistently says, You Revere Moses, go back to
Moses. You Revere scriptures, go back
to the Scriptures. Don't say you believe in the
Father without believing in me, because as we see, I and my
Father are one. This is what Jesus says.
Get something. Me laying the gauntlet about who
Jehovah is. This is Jesus Christ who does
it. Now go to John chapter 8.
Quickly turn to John chapter 8. Look at verse #42 A little bit
of a longer section of Scripture here, but I want you to see
these for yourself. It's all right.
To read a lot of scriptures in Sunday school all right to read
law scriptures in church. I mean, if you're not going to
read the Bible in church, I don't know where you can Amen.
So John chapter 8, verse 42 and I think it's.
Important for us to read these because a lot of what I'm saying
this morning you already understand.
I would imagine there's nothing that I'm saying this morning
that's surprising to you. However, you may not know where
in the Bible to articulate these things because we don't know
where they are. I'd rather you get to them, see
them, write them down, maybe underline some things in your
Bibles. This is what I want us to do
this morning. So John chapter 8, look at verse
#42 it says this. Jesus said unto them, if God
were your Father, he would love me.
For I proceeded forth and came from God.
Neither came I of myself, but He sent me.
Why do you not understand my speech?
Even because ye cannot hear my word.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye
will do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth
in him. When he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the Father.
Of it and. And because I tell you the
truth, you believe me not? Which of you convince it me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's
words. You therefore hear them not,
because you are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said
unto him, Say We not well, that thou art a Samaritan, and has
the devil. If you don't realize how low
regard they had for Samaritans, that ought to tell you a little
bit right there. And they said this Jesus said, I
have not a devil, but I honor my Father, and you do dishonor me,
for I seek not my own glory. There is one that seeketh and
judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
If any, or if a man keep my saying, he shall never see
death. And the Jews said unto him, Now
we know that thou hast the devil, Abraham is dead, and the
prophets. And thou sayest, If a man keep
my saying, he shall never taste of death.
Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead, and the
prophets are dead, who make us thou thyself?
Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing.
It is my father that honor with me, of whom you say that he is
your God, yet you have not known him.
Look at this, you have not known him, but I know him, and if I
should say I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you,
but I know him. I keep a saying, Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.
The Jews said unto him, Thou art not yet 50 years old, and hast
thou seen Abraham? And Jesus said unto them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Now he does two things here. He talks about his eternality,
because he's saying that he pre existed before Abraham.
Well, the only way he could do that is if he eternal.
We know he wasn't just simply saying, well, I'm about 2000
years old. He wasn't saying that.
He's saying that he was eternal. But he also used those two
powerful words at the end. What were those two last words?
I am. And the Jews know exactly what
He meant when He said I am, just as the Jews understood when they
asked if He is Jesus Christ in the garden.
And he said, I am. And they all fell backwards, the
power of who He was. They understood exactly what He
meant with this. And we know this because verse
59 confirms this. They took up stones to cast in
Him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going
through the midst of them, and so passed by.
And So what do we see? We see that Jesus says this, If
you believe in Jehovah, you have to believe in me.
So the Jews can't rightly say that they believe Jehovah, but
then not lay claim to Jesus Christ, because again, I am my
Father or one. First John chapter 2, verses 23
through 25 confirm this. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath
the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you
which he have heard from the beginning.
If that which he have heard from the beginning shall remain in
you, he shall continue in the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he promised us.
Even eternal life, eternal life is through Father and Son.
Eternal life is understanding that we do not just believe in a
God, but that God is composed of Jesus Christ, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. And so we look at #2 are they
saved because they believe in Jehovah?
And we would take that and categorically deny it because
they truly do not believe in Jehovah, just as a Jehovah
Witness or a moment truly don't believe in Jesus.
Because when we get down to the definition of it, we realize
we're really not talking about the same thing at all.
Which brings us to our third question here today.
And this is perhaps the most important because it's the most
relevant to what the Jews believe of themselves.
Are they saved by their works? We ask ourselves this question
and they ask of themselves, are they saved by their works?
Now, we're going to show a video here in just a moment of a
conservative commentator. Last week, we saw a very brief
video from Ben Shapiro. This week we'll be looking.
At a brief video by another Jewish conservative commentator.
His name is Dennis Prager. You might be familiar with him
as he. Speaks of the differences
between Christianity and Judaism.
And once you listen very carefully, particularly of his
reference to the 13 beliefs that we saw at the beginning of our
lesson, but then also at how he believes eternal life is
achieved by Jewish believers. So if we could, let's roll that
footage. The biggest difference between
Judaism and Christianity is not the The Who is Jesus, but
obviously it's a difference. But that's not the biggest
difference. The biggest difference I think
is with regard to attaining salvation, if that, if that
means the afterlife, heaven, whatever term you wish to use
for for Christians, Although Catholics and Protestants don't
fully agree on this matter because Catholics do not believe
faith alone can save you, whereas Protestantism does.
Luther said that Catholics believe that the sacraments are
also necessary. So there's faith and works in
Catholicism and there's faith alone.
Since Luther who founded Protestantism for Judaism it is
works you which I'll use the term that really blows my
Christian friends mind you earn salvation Korean end of issue.
How you act determines whether you go to heaven or yes, Jews do
believe. Excuse me Jews don't Judaism
does Jews and Judaism differ a lot.
The the one of the 13 principles of the Jewish faith as compiled
by Maimonides, the greatest Jewish thinker whoever lived
according to nearly all Jews. One of them, one of the 13
principles, is that God rewards the good and punishes the bad.
And the exact same faith is for good Jews and good non Jews and
bad Jews and bad non Jews. Judaism holds that God judges
people by their behavior, not by their theology, their beliefs,
their faith. So when I had this discussion
with a with four Christians just this past week long dinner, one
of them was a pastor and I, when I mentioned that we have to
strive to be good and that God rewards the good and punishes
the bad. So he said, well, what is the
definition of good? So I asked the pastor, what do
you mean by what is good? You know what good is.
Everybody knows what good is. Did you, if somebody said
someone's a good lawyer or a good pitcher or a good
violinist, would you ask what does good mean?
No, you would know exactly what it means.
Same with a human being. Now, is it good enough?
I think that's what he meant to attain salvation, to use a
Christian term, or go to heaven, get rewarded in the afterlife.
That's for God to determine. I don't claim that I know what
is good enough. That's God's determination.
That's true. So then for the Christian, the
question would arise, well, then you're, you don't have any
assurance that you'll go to heaven, to which I would say
that's true. I don't have an assurance.
I think if God judges justly, I think I have lived a life that
has merited reward, but ultimately that is for God to
judge. That's true.
So there's a Jewish Christian difference.
I always speak of today a Christian values because our
values are so similar, but our theologies are different, which
doesn't bother me in the least, by the way.
That's fine. I have a lot to learn from
Christians and I hope they have a lot to learn from me.
There's a lot of that that's pretty sorrowful when you think
of, and I say sorrowful for those who would believe that
line of theology. And, and really a lot of it came
down to this. You know what good is?
Did you catch that? Well, you know what good is?
And the answer is, well, mankind doesn't know what good is unless
there is a code. It tells us what is good and
what is not, because what some think is good, others do not
think is good. We saw last week that there was
someone in the name of good in their religion went to Bondi
Beach and decided to be able to shoot 15 different people.
Shot a lot more than 15 people, but that 15 people perished on
that day and they thought they were doing such as good in the
name of their God. We would say no, that's not good
at all whatsoever. There would be others who would
say that. Very heinous crimes and very
awful ways of talking or acting would be good things to do in
their own mind because of their own twisted value system.
Could you imagine a judge here in the United States of America
not having any type of code of laws whatsoever, just that judge
was supposed to determine as two people came to him, well, what's
good and what's not? Well, you know what's good,
right? And the answer is no, of course
not. There's nuances and there's
differences, and that's why there has to be a code of laws
of ethics that's in place. And how much more so is that
true of God, that God has given us His word to tell us what's
good and what's not? And here's another major issue
with that. When we look at God's Word and
we see the laws of which is there, we don't see ourselves as
good. What do we see ourselves as?
Bad. We see ourselves as sinners.
That's what we understand that the law does not exonerate us.
The law actually finds US guilty, that all of us are
guilty before God. And so as we look at God's laws,
we don't find that, well, there is perhaps a possibility for
reward. We see that, well, there is no
possibility of reward without redemption.
And so that's what we find here. And it's so sad to be able to
hear that and hear someone to say, well, I think that my life
has merited favor. Well, my question is, well, if
you know what's good and what's bad, then you ought to know that
you have salvation. You ought to know that you
achieve eternal life. But even a man such as Dennis
Prager would have to say no, I have no assurance of that
whatsoever. But we realize that the.
Bible tells us we can. Have assurance of where we'll
spend eternity that we can know that where we'll spend an
eternity in heaven. I will say one of his arguments
that he made at the beginning is the understanding of the
difference between Catholic theology and what do you call
Protestant theology. I would call biblical theology
because even many Protestants don't believe what he said.
But the idea that work, salvation is sometimes found in
Christian circles. And the answer is that it is
found in Christian circles. But that's why we try to
differentiate as we're teaching what biblical Christianity is.
The Bible teaches that we do not trust in our own works
whatsoever. What do we trust in the finished
work of Jesus Christ on the cross?
That's where salvation is. Now, what does the Bible say
about this? We have a few more moments.
What does the Bible say about this?
Hebrews 911 through 4. 14 But Christ being come and high
priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect
Tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not this
building, neither by the blood of goats or calves, but by His
own blood He entered into once in the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us.
For if the blood of bulls and. Goats and the.
Ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the
purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the body of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God? Purge from what?
Dead works, works that can't save you, works that don't have
the ability to bring life, but rather works that in and of
ourselves only bring death. Turn to Galatians chapter 3 very
quickly. Galatians chapter.
Three, we're almost done. Galatians chapter 3, listen very
well this morning and we'll take a break and get ready for
service. All right, Galatians chapter 3,
look at verse #21. Galatians 321 says, Is the law
then against the promises of God?
Well, is the law bad? Is the law wrong?
Well, God forbid it says, For if there had been a law given which
could have given life, verily righteousness should have been
by the law. If the law could give life, God
would have done that. But that's not what the law is
for. But the Scripture hath
concluded, Listen all under sin. Why, that the promise by faith
of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up
under the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Wherefore the law? We've said this before.
It was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be
justified by what faith. But after that faith has come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Now look at this. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither what Jew nor Greek.
There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor
female. For ye are all one in Jesus
Christ. And if ye be Christ, then ye be
Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise meaning
this, if you belong to Christ, then you are with all of those
together, whether they are Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male
or female, that we all belong. We are all one in Jesus Christ.
The Real issue of mankind, as we'll see this morning in the
morning service that has divided mankind is really this.
What do you think of Christ? That is the real issue that has
divided mankind through the ages.
And so are we believing that works could save someone?
The answer is no. To say that you're saved by your
works is really a gross misreading of the Old Testament.
Do you think Lot would have been saved by works?
Consider Lot. We see him as a pretty sad state
of affairs, don't we? But yet second Peter chapter 2
verse 7 says that he was a saved man.
It calls him just Lot. In fact, I preached on that few
years ago that he was just Lot, that he was saved.
But that was about all it all he was in his life, he was just, he
was just Lot. But it does say he was justified
before the Lord. I don't know that I understand
all of it other than the fact that's what the Bible says.
What about David, he did some pretty bad things didn't he?
What about Samson, he did some pretty bad things, didn't he?
But yet we see David and Samson named in Hebrews Chapter 11 in
the Hall of Faith. Why?
Because they were looking forward to Messiah, they were
looking forward by faith, that which they could not see, but
yet they believed Him. Salvation in the Old Testament
and the New Testament has always been about the Messiah.
In the Old Testament they look forward to him.
Here in the New Testament we look back toward Him.
Hebrews 11 verses 39 and 40. And these all, having obtained a
good report through faith, receive not the promise.
God having provided some better thing for us, that they without
us should not be made perfect. Listen, these 3 truths have
never Salvation always rests on Christ's work that has never
changed. Salvation always requires faith
that never changes. The content of faith became
clearer after Christ came, meaning this Old Testament
believers did not know the details of Christ's life and
death, but yet they promised God's.
They trusted God's promise of a Redeemer, which is the same
Messiah revealed in the New Testament.
That's what Hebrews 11 is all about.
So ask ourselves this question just for a couple couple more
minutes and let's tie this up together to be done in the end.
How are the Jews saved? Remember we saw.
How do they receive eternal life?
Well, the answer is they don't think they need saving.
This is what it comes down to. They don't think they need
saving in the way that we would use the term salvation.
They believe nationally they need deliverance.
They believe naturally they need deliverance, but they also are
looking personally for eternal reward in peace.
That's what they look at. They come from the fundamentally
different thought process that they are good and must do good
things, and we come from the process where the Bible says the
heart is evil and desperately wicked.
Who can know it that our righteousnesses are like filthy
rags and we need salvation that only Jesus Christ can provide.
We're talking about two completely different thought
processes. Jews generally do not conceive
of salvation as atonement through a sacrificial Messiah,
but rather as being in a right relationship with God, living
faithfully under the covenant, and participating in God's
promises. Yet God's Word makes clear they
need to be saved. I leave you with these verses
Romans 116 and 17. For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ. For to the power of salvation
unto the power of God, unto salvation to everyone that
believeth. Listen to the Jew first, and
also to the Greek or the Gentile, for therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.
The just shall live by faith. What's the plan for the Gentile?
The just shall live by faith. What's the plan for the Jew?
The just shall live by faith. Thank you for listening to the
sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church.
If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we
can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at
info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday
at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.
May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.